


Rush

by copper_wasp



Category: Far Cry (Video Games), Far Cry: New Dawn
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Cunnilingus, Declarations Of Love, End-Game spoilers, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Far Cry: New Dawn Spoilers, French Kissing, Kissing, Mostly Canon Compliant, Naked Cuddling, Reader-Insert, Timber Being The Best Boi, Time Skips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-18
Updated: 2019-04-18
Packaged: 2020-01-15 19:10:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18505267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/copper_wasp/pseuds/copper_wasp
Summary: Wherever Rush went, you followed. Side by side. To hell and back.Hope County, though, was a special kind of hell.





	1. Chapter 1

You didn’t think you would ever forget the sight of his body. Flat on his face, crimson spread around his head like a macabre halo. It burned itself into your retinas, leaving a ghost, a remnant, no matter how many times you tried to blink it away. No matter how many tears washed over your eyes, the image remained.

* * *

You steadied your grip on the saw launcher. Lou was already dead, blood coating her chin from where she coughed it out, clinging to the last threads of her life just minutes ago. Mickey looked at you, holding her dead twin’s hand. “You do what you gotta do, rabbit,” she said, not breaking eye contact.

Raising the weapon up, you leveled it at her head. You could barely breathe, the entirety of the New Eden settlement in flames, heat and ash burning your eyes, but there was no way you would be showing any weakness to her. You swallowed, carefully choosing your words.

“You shot the man I loved in front of me. You have tortured and killed so many innocent people, people just trying to survive in this special hell. You deserve no mercy. Your death won't make a big difference, but it's a start.” You narrowed you eyes at the woman, clenching your jaw.

You pulled the trigger.

* * *

Though it was hard to notice anything but that fucking eagle on his neck, you always saw his eyes first. Bright, intense, always darting around, like they were worried they would miss something. He would catch you staring at him, and you would quickly look away, feeling the heat of his gaze on you. He would keep staring back until your eyes met his again, which they always did, and he would give you a closed-lip smile, one he only gave to you. No matter how many times he did it, your stomach did a little flip each and every time.

The two of you stood side by side in the central hub of Prosperity, after just having manhandled his knee back into place, a questionable bottle of whiskey picking up the assist. You could barely concentrate on what Kim Rye was saying, staring at Rush’s profile as he spoke with her. He would turn his head just enough to catch your eye for a second before refocusing his attention. You suppressed a smile, meeting her daughter Carmina’s eyes for a brief moment, the young girl raising an eyebrow slightly at you. Was your relief that he was okay that obvious? You pursed your lips, turning your face away from her and closing your eyes to the fading light of the warm sunset.

Rush was hurting, you could tell from how he wasn’t putting his full weight on his left leg, and you silently prayed that Kim would hurry the fuck up and let you take him somewhere to rest. Luckily Carmina was your saving grace, suggesting that he do just that before continuing discussions about how best to start rebuilding and expanding Prosperity, as well as how best to deal with our little twin problem.

You helped the man up the stairs of the main structure, counting three doors and pushing open the fourth, as Kim instructed. Compared with what you had seen over the past few days, and what you imagined Rush had been forced to deal with, the room was like Buckingham Fucking Palace. A nice sized bed, covered with mismatched pillowcases and a patchwork quilt took up one wall, a small window shining beautiful orange light into the room on another, and a desk with a rickety wooden chair rounding out the furnishings. Kim also told you of the shower, which you were looking forward to the most, located in the back corner of the homestead.

Helping Rush down onto the bed, he visibly relaxed, absentmindedly massaging at his sore joint with calloused fingers. When you went to remove the arm you had flung over your back to help him to the bedroom, he squeezed your shoulder, keeping you seated next to him.

“Listen, I know you’re gonna hate this,” he began in a soft voice and you groaned, trying to free yourself from his grasp, knowing exactly what he was going to say next, but he persisted, digging his fingers into your shoulder almost painfully and grabbing ahold of your left hand with his free one. “But you’re going to listen to me, okay?”

You swung your head over to meet his gaze, nodding reluctantly. He opened his mouth, then closed it again, like he couldn’t think of the right words. You thought it was cute, and couldn’t help a small smile from forming on your lips; any other time you heard him speak it was always with passion and confidence, plucking the perfect words from his head without hesitation.

“I...don’t know if I would’ve been able to get out of there alive without you. You... you saved my life. Thank you, (Y/N).”

You balked - he never, _ever_ , called you by your name. Maybe twice in all the years you knew him. It was always ‘Cap’ or ‘Captain,’ _never_ your name.

“I didn’t think you remembered my name, Boss,” you said, giving him a smirk.

“Oh, come on Cap, I’m trying to be sincere here,” he replied, groaning.

“There we go, back to normal.” You pulled your hand out of his grip, resting your palm on his good thigh, feeling the warmth of his skin through his pants. You sat with him in a comfortable silence for a few moments before you spoke again. “You didn’t need to thank me, but...you’re welcome, Rush. Really, though, there was no way in hell I wasn’t coming for you.... I can’t.... _We_ can’t do this without you,” you said in a small voice, staring straight ahead.

His arm finally slipped from your shoulder, landing on the mattress next to your leg. You thought you felt his fingertips wander over to touch your hip, and you turned to look at him. Rush was close. Close enough for you to see a little pale scar above his eyebrow; close enough to see how long his eyelashes actually were, framing his deep blue eyes; close enough to see his cheeks were dotted with nearly indiscernible freckles.

“I don’t think you give yourself enough credit,” he began, looking right into your eyes. ”You’re a fighter. You’ve got something in you that I envy. You could easily do this on your own, but I’m not going to lie and say it doesn’t feel good to hear you say that about me, knowing how you... risked yourself for me.” The man gave you a smile, and now you were completely sure he was touching your hip, thumb stroking up and down on top of your shirt, bunching the material. You were frozen where you sat, grasping desperately at a handful of handmade quilt.

He never looked away from you as he closed the small remaining distance between you, tentatively pressing his lips to yours. Your breath caught in your throat, your face burning up at the feeling of his mouth gently moving against yours. He pulled away slightly after a moment, eyes searching yours for permission to continue. You looked at him with no resistance, and he closed the gap once again. You raised your hands up to place them softly on each side of his neck, thumbs tracing over the feathers tattooed on his skin, finally letting your eyes flutter closed. He moved one hand to the back of your neck, weaving his fingers into your loose, dirty hair, while the other hand kept itself busy on your hip.

A satisfied noise escaped your throat, and you felt him smile against your lips, angling your head a bit to allow him to press himself even closer to you, claiming your mouth with his. You rubbed your thumbs over the spiky stubble on his cheeks, pulling his face against yours. Pleasant tingles of electricity ran down your arms and legs as you kissed, the feeling stronger where he touched you, and you pressed your leg against his, craving more friction. You felt his tongue press against your bottom lip, and you eagerly met it with yours. A delicious static shock erupted where they touched, and you could taste remnants of the whiskey he downed when getting his knee re-set. You were about to invite his tongue inside when you heard an “Oh!” from the doorway. Fuck, the door was open, wasn’t it?

You quickly broke apart, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand as you met Carmina’s red face, the girl holding a stack of towels.

“Oh, God, I am so sorry, Mom wanted me to bring these to you, since you said about needing a shower and, oh shit, I’m really, really sorry for interrupting... can you just take these? Please?” she blurted, holding the stack out and in front of her face.

You quickly got up from the bed, taking them from her, before pushing past her, desperate to be anywhere but there. You were pretty sure you heard Rush call out to you, but you ignored it, stampeding down the stairs and out into the crisp night air.

Rush just kissed you. Kissed you good - really, _really_ good - and you kissed him back. Rush. Your partner. Your boss. The would-be savior of this fucked up, ass-backwards county.

You took a lukewarm shower as soon as you found it, taking as long as you could before feeling guilty about wasting water. You dried yourself off, seeing that Kim had sandwiched clean clothes between the towels, and you thanked her silently, sliding on the soft flannel shirt and jeans. The shirt was a little big and the jeans a little tight, but anything felt better than what you had on previously. You piled your wet hair on top of your head, securing it with a rubber band from your wrist, grabbing your pile of dirty clothes and exiting the makeshift shower.

Timber trotted over to you, tongue lolling adorably out of his mouth. You reached down to pet the Shiba, and he immediately stood on his hind legs licking at your face, making you drop your pile of laundry. You giggled, gently grabbing onto his front paws to keep him steady.

“Who’s a good boy? Who’s the best boy?” you cooed, scratching him behind the ears. “It’s you, Timberino, yes it is. You are the best boy. Fucking up those Highwaymen for me, doing such a good job. Who’s the best at mauling? You are! You know right where the jugular is, don’t you? Don’t you, sweet boy?” You noticed some of Prosperity’s inhabitants giving you weird looks, and you cleared your throat awkwardly, setting the dog’s paws back on the grass and picking up your clothing and towels.

“Hi, Captain,” you heard, looking up to see Carmina. You gave her an awkward smile, noticing that her face was still a little red. “I just came over to get your laundry, we’ll have someone wash it for you.”

You handed over the pile, and the two of you stood there in an awkward silence.

“I’m sorry, again, for-“ You cut her off with a dismissive wave of your hand.

“It’s...okay. Fine, really. Probably for the best, we can’t afford to have any, uh, _distractions_ , you know?” you said, biting at your lip.

She nodded, thankfully turning away and walking back towards the house.

You spent some more quality time with Timber before deciding to head inside to get some much needed rest. Climbing the stairs as silently as you could, you counted two doors and opened the third, immediately beelining for the bed after closing the door softly behind you. You took off the jeans and shirt, collapsing into the mattress in just your undergarments.

* * *

You woke the next morning just as the sun was peeking over the horizon, groaning. _“Damn internal clock,”_ you lamented, rolling off the side of the bed and getting dressed. After adjusting your shoulder holster, you strapped your knife to your thigh, tightening the leather strap and making sure it was firmly in place. Checking your rats nest of hair in the mirror, you tried to tame it into a top knot with mild success. Stretching and yawning, you went down the stairs to an empty room. At least everyone else was able to sleep in. Finding some food in the kitchen, you helped yourself, grabbing a bottle of water for your trip out. You had decided to take the best point man, Timber, out on a supply run.

Also, you weren’t ready to face Rush again, and the thought of the previous night’s activities made you flush a brilliant red.

Like a psychic, Timber trotted over to you as you opened the garage door, pushing out a motorcycle with a side car. He adorably jumped right in to the side car, and you scratched behind his ears enthusiastically, his tail wagging like crazy.

“You ready, Timber? You wanna go steal some shit? Gonna bite off some faces today?” He woofed in agreement as you sat astride the motorcycle. “Then let's go!”


	2. Chapter 2

The sun was just beginning to set when you pulled the bike back up to Prosperity’s gate. You had dropped off most of the supplies you had filched from now dead Highwaymen at an outpost before heading back to home base.

Thanking the person manning the gate, you dropped off your weapons at the workbench and walked into the courtyard. It was, well, positively lively, conversation flowing all around you, and the smell of something amazing cooking nearby.

Kim caught your eye, waving you over. “Where have you been all day?” she asked, handing you a plate.

“Just liberating some supplies from certain unsavory individuals with my favorite canine companion,” you said, petting Timber on the head before lightly tapping his haunches to send him off. “I dropped them at the pantry on the way back,” you explained, taking a deep breath of the delicious smell of cooking food.

She laughed, grabbing another plate to stack it high with food. “Well, get some of this food while it’s hot, stuff that smells this good won’t last long.”

“I will take that as a compliment,” said Rush, manning the grill. He made eye contact with you for a brief second, raising his eyebrows before you turned away.

“Mom thought it’d be a good idea to have a little dinner together for everyone. Boost the morale - I’d say it’s working,” said Carmina, grabbing a few plates to drop off at a nearby table. You couldn’t help but agree, _everyone_ was in good spirits.

“We all need a little down time,” Kim said, as Rush places a freshly grilled fish on her plate.

“Except for her,” Rush replied, tilting his head in your direction. “She’s got no quit.” You rolled your eyes, helping yourself to a big bite of vegetables.

“Don’t expect that to change,” Kim said, waving a hand in front of her face to swat at the smoke from the grill. “Can’t remember the last time I hosted this many people. Might’ve been when I told the whole town I was pregnant with you,” she finished, a wistful look in her eyes as she glanced at her daughter.

“Mom...” Carmina whined, stumbling over to where you were standing, grabbing onto her mother’s arm. You smiled weakly, trying not to think about how happy they must’ve been, not having any idea of what was going to come.

“They were all so happy for your dad and I...” she trailed off and you looked down nervously.

“It’s not perfect and there’s still work to do, but it sure is nice to have something to be happy about again,” said Rush, walking over to where you were gathered with the Ryes. “Right, Cap?” he asked, nudging you with his elbow before taking a long swig from his beer.

“I’ll drink to that,” Kim said, turning her gaze back to you, “Wouldn’t have any of this if it weren’t for you. Now come on, go grab a drink. It’s long overdue.” She gestured you over to a crate of warm beer, which you took with joy, cracking the lip of the bottle on the table’s edge to remove the cap. Downing nearly half the bottle in one gulp, you saw Rush meander over to you in your peripheral vision, leaning his lithe form against the table.

“Slow down there, cowgirl,” he said, pressing his shoulder against yours.

“Don’t be jealous that I can drink you under the table,” you replied, taking another long sip of the not-entirely-terrible beer. You felt him cover your hand that was perched on the table’s edge with his, and you looked down at it before nervously glancing back up at him. He smiled at you before taking a drink from his bottle.

He opened his mouth to say something to you, but was interrupted by fireworks exploding over the heads of Prosperity’s inhabitants.

It seemed the shithead Highwaymen decided to pull a Maleficent and fuck up your party, and you and your brothers-in-arms were thrust into a skirmish with them. You won, barely, at a high cost. With his insistence, you followed your partner upstairs in the main house after assessing your losses.

Rush was pissed. _Fucking_ pissed. You watched him pace from your seat, still limping a bit on his injured leg.

“So many goddamn people, gone. Who knew two young girls could cause so much fucking destruction?” he lamented, pausing his limping to stand in front of you. You were sitting at the desk, arms and legs crossed, highly unimpressed with the fuckery that had just transpired.

“As someone who once was a young girl, you’d be surprised just how destructive we can be. Usually the extent of the casualties is a friendship or a boyfriend, but we are living in a very different time,” you replied, fiddling with the knife still strapped to your leg, snapping and unsnapping the closure on the knife’s sheath.

“The hell are we gonna do, Cap?” he asked, releasing an annoyed breath. “This is beyond fucked.”

“I thought planning was your job, boss. You do all the work, and I execute. That’s why you get paid the big bucks.”

He chuckled, smirking down at you. “You have no idea what I’d do for a normal paying job.”

“I don’t know, it may just be because I’ve been stuck with you for so long, but somehow I just can’t picture you in an office job,” you said sarcastically, picking some dirt out from under your fingernails. Your clothes smelled like gunpowder and ethanol, with just a hint of char from a Molotov that had landed far too close for comfort. “All right Boss, I’m getting some sleep; before we came upstairs, Kim told me that an outpost was recaptured while we were dealing with our little problem here, and I feel like getting a little revenge on those bastards bright and early tomorrow morning. You know, before they get too comfortable.”

You stood, brushing some dirt off of your thighs and went to leave his room. Before you could get far, he grabbed your wrist, turning you back to face him. He wrapped his arms around you, pulling you flush to his chest before kissing you hard, molding his mouth to yours. A startled noise formed in your throat and you waved your arms around a little, not exactly sure what to do with them, before finally settling them on his shoulders. They were tense, and that mouth of his was relentless, forcing out little pleasured noises and gasps from you. His facial hair tickled your chin and above your lips, and you desperately wanted to let him continue, letting him kiss you wherever he wanted, however long he wanted, but you gathered some strength and pushed him away. Catching your breath, you looked at him, his lips wet and puffy, a slightly confused look on his face.

“Rush... I... not now, okay?” you said, trying to find the right words.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” he mumbled, turning his back to you. “Really fucked that up, didn’t I?”

“Oh, knock it off,” you said, coming around to face him again. “It’s not that I don’t...want this, it’s just that we have bigger problems to deal with. This between us, it can’t be the focus now, okay?” You searched his face until he nodded imperceptibly. You smiled wryly, placing a hand on his cheek. He leaned into it, closing his eyes. You took a small step closer to him, gently pressing your lips to his once more. He tried to deepen the kiss, but you pulled away once again, tapping him on the nose with your index finger. “Behave.” He rolled his eyes, plopping down on the edge of the bed.

Smiling at him once again, you walked to the door, opening it and then closing it softly behind you. You let out the rest of your breath, before shaking your head lightly and retreating to your room.

* * *

You woke up the next morning surprisingly refreshed, finding another set of clean clothes on the side table in your room, thanks to Kim, no doubt. The jeans were a little closer to your size this time, and you paired them with a soft, old t-shirt with a cartoon of a bear apparently called “Cheeseburger” on it. Popping on your army green anorak jacket, you strapped your pistol into the holster and knife into the sheath on your thigh as usual, laced up your boots and headed downstairs.

You were in the kitchen area grabbing an apple and some other food to take with you when you were startled by a touch on your shoulder. Your hand immediately moved to hover over your gun, ready to unholster it when you turned around to be met with Rush’s tired, but smiling face. It was that little half smile, no teeth, and your stomach did it’s customary backflip.

“Jesus, Rush, you cannot sneak up on me like that. I was about to shoot you,” you said, pushing your hair back off your forehead. He was staring at your chest, head tilted a little bit. _“Really?”_ you thought to yourself, pursing your lips at him.

“Cute shirt,” he said after a moment, grabbing the apple out of your hand and taking a bite.

“You want me to see if Kim can get you one in your size?”

“I’ll pass,” he replied, stepping behind you to wash his hands. You noticed he was armed to the gills, SMG strapped on his back, two pistols on his belt and a matching combat knife to the one you wore also attached to his thigh.

“You going somewhere? You’ve got a lot of gear on you there, soldier.”

“Yeah, I’m coming with you to take back that outpost,” he said, turning around and leaning back on the counter. “It’s been too long since we actually worked together.”

“What? No way, you’re still injured,” you said, crossing your arms.

“I’m fine. And I’m the Boss, as you constantly like to remind me, so if I say I’m going, I’m going.” You almost expected him to stick his tongue out at you and end with a ‘so there.’

“I’m not going to be able to convince you to stay here, am I?”

“Nope,” he replied, and actually did stick his tongue out at you. You couldn’t suppress your smile, and you heard him laugh.

“Okay, Boss. Time to go,” you said, exiting the house.


	3. Chapter 3

Rush parked the truck about a half mile away from the old radio station, you heard the Highwaymen call it “Signal Point” the first time you took it from them. You and Rush silently approached, your big ass sniper rifle in your hands. Finding cover, you looked through the scope, trying to pinpoint the patrols. After a few minutes of observing, you had the general idea of their movements, though humans were unpredictable and you had to plan for them to stray. Turning to Rush, lying on his stomach next to you on the ground, you laid out the plan, scooting yourself closer to him, so you could speak softly in his ear.

“I’m going to stay here and snipe as many as I can with the rifle. They’re wearing armor, so it’s going to take some precise shots. I want you to go around the perimeter and take out any you come across as silently as you can - use your knife, Boss, a gun only if you have no other choice. There are two alarms at the bases of those radio towers. I think I can shoot one with the rifle, but you’ll have to take out the other. If one of those goes off, we’re screwed. They’ll send an enforcer, and those guys are legitimately terrifying,” you said, laughing a little nervously.

“I’m guessing you’ve had some experience with them already?” Rush asked, mouth right next to your ear. Oh, you wanted to lean into him so badly, feel those soft lips on your skin, kissing down your jaw and neck, nipping and sucking as he went, but you stopped yourself. Now was not the best time to be fantasizing about your partner, surrounded by Highwaymen with lots of guns and explosives.

You looked back through the scope of the silenced rifle, making sure your targets were sticking to the plan. You nodded to Rush, pointing over to an oblivious low level asshole who was unbelievably pissing into a bush about twenty feet to your left. You watched Rush creep over to him, taking him out with a swift stab to the neck, hiding the body in the piss bush. He looked back at you with a wink, and you rolled your eyes. It was time to get serious.

“Focus!” you mouthed at him, and he responded with a thumbs up, starting to move around the outside of the collapsing dome.

You took out the alarm you could see with the rifle first, the box releasing a small spark before the flashing light at the top of the tower went dead. Just one more alarm, but it was on the other side of the dome from where you were stationed. You took out two snipers on the rooftops, heads exploding with an armor piercing bullet each. You saw Rush sneak behind another Highwayman through your scope, knife burying itself in the man’s neck as he gently set the body on the ground. You adjusted your aim, focusing on another enemy that was leaning up against one of the buildings. You took aim, released the breath you were holding, fired...and missed. The bullet lodged itself just inches away from the man’s head, the Highwayman immediately jerking away from the point of impact. _“Fuck!”_ you cursed to yourself, quickly reloading the rifle. You tried to line up another shot, but he was moving around too much. Before he could yell to sound the alarm, though, you watched as Rush twisted the arm holding his weapon behind his back, making the man drop it before bringing the knife down brutally through the top of his shoulder, angled in towards his neck. The body slumped to the ground, and Rush took off, heading for the last alarm.

You quickly changed cover, spotting another sniper climbing up a ladder to the roof. You took her out swiftly, watching the body fall to the ground in a shower of crimson. The remaining tower light went out, and you silently thanked Rush for his help. Leaving the rifle in a bush, you switched to the silenced SMG on your back, double checking that it was loaded. You snuck around the buildings, briefly checking to see if anyone was inside, finding only one occupied building nearest the last alarm tower. You quickly ran up behind them, grabbing their neck and plunging your knife through their goggles, dropping the limp body on the floor.

Wiping your blade off on the dead Highwayman’s coat, you heard sounds of a scuffle outside. Running out, you saw Rush fighting with what looked like the last enemy at the outpost. He had his hands on the man’s rusty shotgun, desperately trying to keep the Highwayman from pointing the business end at him. You immediately sprinted over, taking aim and shooting at the enemy’s legs, making him drop to the ground. Keeping up your momentum, you raised your knife up, driving it down into their chest and holding it there until they stopped thrashing. Breathing heavily, you pulled your knife out of the Highwayman’s sternum, wiping the blood off again before securing it back in your leg holster. Still kneeling, you looked up at Rush, who was wearing an interesting expression.

“Fuck me, that was... I don’t even know,” he said, holding out his hand to help you up. Of course he didn’t let go of your hand once you were back on your feet, instead stepping towards you and pressing his mouth next to your ear. “Is it...weird that watching you kill that guy was the hottest fucking thing I’ve ever seen?”

You choked out a laugh, feeling his lips press against your jaw, right below your ear. “You’ve got some strange kinks, Boss,” you replied, pressing yourself against him.

He moved his mouth down your jaw, giving the sweetest kisses you had ever felt, until he ended up at your lips again. He didn’t kiss you, just hovered there, blue eyes clouded with lust, and any remaining self restraint you had went right out the window. _“Fuck it,”_ you thought, reaching for him. Cupping his face in your hands, you kissed him hungrily, trying to show him exactly how you felt about him. He got the gist pretty quickly, eagerly plunging his tongue into your mouth, engaging in an intricate dance with yours. After thoroughly stealing your breath away, you pulled back from him, looking down at the corpse on the ground beneath you.

“Would you mind if we continued this somewhere without a dead body at our feet?” you asked, moving your hands to loop around his neck.

“That would probably be a good idea,” Rush replied, placing one last kiss on your lips before grabbing your hand and pulling you towards the two-story building on the far side of the dome.

Once inside, he directed you up the stairs, finding a room with some beds and dressers. As soon as he closed the door, the man was back on you, hands on your neck, pulling you back into another series of bruising kisses. Arousal was rapidly building in your core, heating your skin and making your heart practically beat out of your chest. You maneuvered your hands under his shirt, pressing against his abdomen before wrapping them around to his back. He moved his hands down from your neck to start pushing your jacket off your shoulders and you quickly shrugged out of it, letting it fall to the floor.

You did the same to his heavy leather jacket, it too falling to the ground with an audible thump. He was wearing a soft long-sleeved shirt underneath, and you quickly divested him of that as well, kissing at his neck once you pulled it over his head. Your tongue darted out to lick at his tattoo, hands caressing over the additional ones on his chest. You stepped back slightly to look at him, eyes roving greedily over his ink-covered skin. His chest and arms were completely covered, all traditional American tattoos, all stunningly beautiful. You made a mental note to memorize the details of every single one he had, no matter the number of times you had to get him naked to do so. You gently drug your fingertips over the twin roses at his collarbones, leaning forward to press your lips to his again.

You felt his hands on your hips, pushing the fabric of your t-shirt up, his fingers finally making contact with your bare skin. Quickly pulling off your holster, you gently set it on the ground as well, allowing Rush to pull your shirt over your head. He immediately drew you back into his arms, leaning down to kiss the tops of your breasts above the lacy bra you had on.

“I want more of you,” he said, fingers ghosting over the clasp of your bra, waiting patiently for permission.

“You can have all of me,” you replied, a little breathless already, sweetly kissing him. He undid the clasp, pulling away the garment and adding it to the pile of clothing on the floor.

Pulling your body to him, he lifted you up, carrying you over to one of the beds and gently setting you down on your back. He kissed down your neck, sucking a little bruise once he reached your collarbone, continuing down to your breasts, which he caressed gently with his hands, lips following closely in their wake. You gasped when you felt his lips close around a nipple, lavishing it with his tongue before biting gently. You moaned, fisting your hands in his short hair, and you felt him hum appreciatively against your skin. He switched to your other breast, repeating his actions there, rewarded with another lewd moan from you.

“All that noise for just this?” He said, kissing down your stomach. “I can’t even imagine what you’ll be like when I keep going.”

You chuckled, letting your head fall back to the mattress. “What can I say, it’s been awhile and that mouth of yours is fucking sinful.”

“Oh babe, I’m just getting started,” he purred, starting to unlace your boots. You began to unbutton your jeans, but one of his hands on yours stopped you. “So impatient, Cap,” he said, pulling off your boots and socks. “Let me take care of you.”

Rush slid back up your body, kissing below your navel before continuing to divest you of your clothes. He pulled your jeans off, kissing up your legs as he returned to deal with those pesky panties. Kissing each of your hip bones first, he dipped his fingers beneath the elastic, pulling down gently, slowly revealing yourself to him. He pulled those off completely too, tossing them over his shoulder.

You were completely bare for him now, and you swallowed hard, pressing your knees together as he looked you over.

“Stunning,” he breathed, pushing your knees apart with his hands. He kneeled on the floor, grabbing onto your hips and pulling your body down so that your ass was just hanging on the edge of the bed. He slid his forearms under the bottom of your thighs, shoulders keeping your legs apart, moving his head to hover just above your cunt. You could feel his warm breath dance across your skin, and he looked up at you briefly, raising his eyebrows and giving you a little smirk before burying his face between your thighs. Your breath immediately caught in your throat, and you grabbed handfuls of sheets to try to ground yourself.

Rush was positively _relentless_ , licking and sucking at you as if his life depended on it. He used his hands to pull your legs further apart, pressing the tip of his tongue insistently to your clit, tearing a strangled moan from your lips. Moving constantly between your dripping entrance and your swollen bundle of nerves, you felt your orgasm start creeping up on you, pressure building in your gut. You felt him move a hand to the inside of your thigh, caressing your skin before he reached your hole and plunging his middle finger in with gusto. Your inner muscles clenched hard, and Rush glanced up at you. You wanted to pack that image away into your brain for a rainy day, his deep blue eyes gazing up at you as his mouth continued giving such beautiful torture.

“Fuck...” you whined, trying to keep your legs apart. “Don’t stop, please... oh, god...”

You felt him hum in assent against your cunt, the vibrations causing a spike of pleasure to travel down your spine. He added a second finger, tongue still working your clit. You knew you weren’t going to last much longer, not at the pace he was keeping, fucking you open on his thick fingers, getting you ready for the main event.

You reached down and grabbed ahold of his hair with one hand, your arousal at an almost unbearable pressure in your belly. He curled his fingers as deep inside you as he could reach, white hot pleasure rolling over you in waves as you came. You cried out, yanking a little too hard on his hair, receiving a growl from the man still between your legs. He kissed your clit gently as you came down, his fingers still stroking inside, milking every last drop of satisfaction out of you.

He pulled his fingers out of your wet hole, immediately bringing them up to his mouth to suck your release from them. You pushed yourself up onto your elbows, weakly moving up the bed so your body was on it entirely. Rush’s other hand was working at the closure of his pants, and he hastily pulled them down, bending over to remove his boots. He stood before you for a moment, gloriously naked, and your mouth parted in anticipation.

“Pleased?” he asked, grasping his dick in his hand, starting to stroke himself lazily.

“I am,” you replied, openly staring at his cock, hard and thick, and you licked your dry lips. “Though I’d be more so if you were on top of me.”

“So, so impatient,” he said, climbing onto the bed. He settled himself between your legs, leaning on his forearms on either side of your head. His cock pressed against your lips teasingly, the head getting coated in your slick.

“Happy now?” he asked, looking down at you.

“Very,” you replied, shifting your hips to try to line him up. He chuckled, pressing his lips to yours, giving you a gentle, yet passionate kiss. You grasped at his neck, focusing only on that kiss. When you broke apart, you gazed up at him; he looked back at you with utter adoration, leaning down once again to place a soft kiss on your forehead.

Rush moved a hand down to your thigh, lifting it to place it against his hip, and you did the same with your other leg, squeezing around him gently. He grabbed his length, pressing it against your entrance and slowly pushing in. The stretch was exquisite, and you relaxed your muscles for the intrusion, letting your eyes flutter closed. Once he was fully inside you, you let out a long breath, the corners of your mouth twitching up into a smile.

“Are you okay?” he asked softly, kissing your cheek.

“I am _wonderful_ ,” you replied breathlessly, running your hands up and down his biceps. “God, you feel amazing.”

He hummed, nuzzling at your neck, “So do you.”

He moved his hips just a little and you gasped, squeezing your legs tighter against him. He started moving inside you, slowly at first, letting your body get used to him. After a short moment, you were gasping and moaning with each thrust, begging him to speed up, to take you harder, wanting nothing more than to get lost in the rhythm of his hips snapping against yours. He obliged, speeding up, dipping his head down to bite gently where your neck meets your shoulder, making you moan.

“Rush...” you panted, scratching your nails down his back. He seemed to enjoy that, grunting into your shoulder as he kept up his pace. You carded a hand through his hair, moving his head over to find his lips again. He licked into your mouth, swallowing your moans as he adjusted his angle, driving deeper inside of you. Your arousal was reaching a fever pitch, and you desperately clung to him, breathy moans leaving you with each thrust. You snaked a hand down the front of your body, finding your swollen clit and stroking it in time with his thrusts. The pressure in your center increased exponentially, and you squeezed at Rush’s shoulder with your free hand.

“Yes, babe, come for me, I wanna feel you,” he said, nipping at your neck. A few rough strokes of your fingers, paired with a few rough thrusts from your lover, and you came hard, arching your back, eyes squeezed shut in pleasure. Your cunt clenched around his cock, nerves on fire, and you cried out, tears prickling at the corners of your eyes.

Sure that you had found your pleasure, Rush chased his own, fucking you hard through your orgasm, before quickly pulling out and spilling his own release on your stomach. He groaned, collapsing back onto the bed next to you. It was a tight squeeze, but you pulled him as close to you as you could, his arm draped across your chest. You laid there on the bed for a long moment, come cooling on your skin, listening to your ragged breaths start to even out and your heartbeat return to normal. You felt Rush shift on the bed, reaching down to the floor and bringing up a questionably clean shirt, most likely belonging to one of the stiffening bodies outside. He used it to wipe off your stomach, tossing the shirt across the room when he finished.

"Come here," he said, laying on his back, holding his arms out for you to snuggle within them. You did as instructed, resting your head on his chest, and he wrapped you in a tight embrace. Placing a kiss on the top of your head, he rubbed your back absentmindedly, and you listened to the steady thump of his heart.

You wanted to stay there in his grasp forever, but reality soon started creeping back in. You had to radio in to Kim that the outpost was secured, so she could send a group to guard it. You had to somehow make it up to those New Eden weirdos in one piece and collect some magic mushrooms or whatever other psychedelic drugs they were hopped up on. You had half the county left to secure, a certain, very important Nick Rye to liberate, and a destroyed home to rebuild. Not to mention two insane twins to kill.

You breathed in a deep breath, holding it for a moment, before releasing it. Rush stroked your hair, tilting your chin up with his other hand to look at him. He gave you your favorite smile, and you pushed your head up to kiss him softly.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" he asked.

"Just thinking of the mountain of responsibilities I have..." you replied wryly.

"Fuck them."

You blinked at him. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me - nothing catastrophic is going to happen in the next hour, so fuck it. We just had some incredible, very, very long overdue sex, and I am in no hurry to let you get out of this bed," he said, matter-of-factly. You looked at him for a long moment, not exactly sure what to make of him. Deciding that thinking about it was hurting your brain too much, you rested your head back down on his chest, running your fingers over the bold black outlines of his tattoos.

"Rush, I... I have to ask you something," you paused, waiting for him to object. When he didn't, you took a breath and continued, "Why... _now_? I mean, we've been together for so long, why did all of this come out now?"

He shifted on the bed a bit before answering. "When I pushed you off that cliff after the train crashed, I had no idea if I had just killed you. It was a split second decision, and when I hadn't heard anything about you surviving the entire time they had me, I almost lost it. I was convinced it was my fault that you were dead. I was convinced I killed you," he said, running a hand over your lower back. "And then you just show up at the mine, a little dirty, more than a little pissed off, but otherwise unharmed, and I just wanted to kiss you so badly. I wanted to protect you, more than anything.... I've loved you for a long time, [Y/N], but I don't think I realized it until you nearly got yourself killed to save my sorry ass."

You looked back up at him, blinking away tears. Placing your hands on his face, you kissed him gently. "I love you too... Thomas."

He smiled at you, running the back of his hand down your cheek. "I didn't think you remembered my name, Captain."

You grinned, punching him in the shoulder a little harder than you meant to. "Shit, [Y/N], I tell you I love you and you punch me?"

"Would you have preferred I smacked that smart mouth of yours instead?"

"I think I have a better idea of how to use my mouth," he replied, rolling your body underneath his, and from what you could feel, he was quite ready for another round.


	4. Chapter 4

You shoveled the dirt onto his grave, not because you wanted to, but because it meant you could avoid looking at anyone else's face. You had been fighting back tears for hours now, since Carmina pushed open the heavy metal door, finding you cradling his body in your lap, kneeling in the pool of his blood. You knew if you looked at anyone, you would lose your composure, and they needed to see you strong. It's what he would've wanted.

Carmina started speaking, but you couldn't have paid attention if you tried. You vaguely heard Kim saying something about coming to see her when you were ready, but who the fuck knew when that would be.

You sat at the foot of the grave until all of the candles had burned out. Timber had found you once the crowd started dispersing, and he was currently asleep, his head resting heavily on your thigh. You held his jacket in your hands, dried blood all over the collar.

Gently patting Timber to wake him up, which he did with an indignant woof, you stood, stretching your stiff muscles. You put on Rush's jacket - it was far too large for you, but it would keep you warm and would feel like he was there with you.

You started walking back around to the front gate of Prosperity to find Kim. It was time to end this.

* * *

"It's done, Rush," you said, sitting down and crossing your legs beneath you. You looked at his grave marker, the very last rays of the setting sun glinting off of the metal road sign they had used. Timber was a few feet away, desperately trying to eat a butterfly that was flitting around his head, just out of reach.

"I guess you were right; I was able to do it myself, but damn if I don't wish you had been there." You paused, moistening your lips. "I hope you're proud of me."

"He is," said a voice behind you. "I know he's proud of you. Proud of us."

You craned your neck, seeing Carmina walking over to you.

"Look at what we've built together, how far we've come. There's always going to be trouble out there, but we'll manage, right?" she asked rhetorically, handing you an already opened beer. She sat down next to you, looking at his grave. "There were so many times I thought we were gonna fail. That all of this would be for nothing. But we just didn't give up. Because we had hope."

She looked at you for a long moment, before raising her beer. "Here's to hope," she said, clinking the bottle against yours. A few traitorous tears slid down your cheeks, and you quickly wiped them away, raising the beer to your lips and drinking deeply.

_Here's to hope._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few things:  
> -I smooshed together the picnic scene and the Highwaymen attack mostly because I didn't want to type out all that twin dialogue when Carmina & the Captain meet them outside.  
> -I know that it is not an option for Rush to go with you for any outpost side missions, but I really didn't want to have sexy time in Prosperity a.k.a. John Seed's former digs....  
> -We never see Rush without his jacket on, so I just made up how many and what his other tattoos were (because there is no way that a dude with a gigantic neck tattoo doesn't have any other tattoos on his body....)  
> -Though Timber is just a Shiba version of Boomer, he is still the best boi  
> -I actually really hate Joseph Seed, so that's why he is not in this story AT ALL. Mild redemption arc, my ass. (I pulled that trigger so damn fast at the end)  
> -Carmina is a darling and I would die for her  
> -That is all
> 
> Thank you for reading! <3
> 
> Comments are always appreciated, please commiserate with me or provide any constructive criticism :) 
> 
> -copper_wasp
> 
>  
> 
> I also have just started a Twitter account specifically for this handle, I’m thinking about doing requests and asks, so if you’d like to give me a follow, find me @copper_wasp_ !! I will be glad to give you a follow back!


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